Subject: Urgent measures in the field of labor and for unavoidable needs, conversion into law of the Tax Decree - Labor
Tax-Labor Decree No. 146 of Oct. 21, 2021 is converted, with amendments, into Law No. 215 of Dec. 17, 2021, published in Gazzetta Official Gazette on Dec. 20, 2021.
Below are the most interesting labor-related news.
One-time reimbursement of 'sick pay at full employer's expense
Within the spending limit of 188.30 million euros for the year 2021, employers in the private sector with a social security obligation with the INPS Managements, excluding domestic employers, are entitled to a lump-sum reimbursement for charges incurred related to their employees who are not entitled to economic sickness insurance with INPS (for example: employees in the industrial sector). For sickness events from January 31, 2020 until December 31, 2021, employers will submit a telematic application to the Social Security Institute to obtain the reimbursement, paid by Inps, in the amount of 600.00 euros per worker. The application must be accompanied by a statement certifying the periods referred to the economic sickness protections. We await instructions from the Institute on how and when to submit applications. The reimbursement is granted to the employer on a one-time basis for each individual worker and is provided only in cases where the work performance, during the event, cannot be carried out in agile mode. Inps will carry out verifications on the veracity of the transmitted declarations.
Parental leave
An employee who is the parent of a cohabiting child under the age of 14, alternating with the other parent, may abstain from work for a period corresponding in whole or in part to the duration of the suspension of teaching or educational activity in the presence of the child, the duration of the child's SARS-CoV-2 infection, as well as the duration of the child's quarantine ordered by the territorially competent ATS following contact wherever it occurred.
The benefit is granted, regardless of the child's age, to parents of children with disabilities in a situation of seriousness ascertained in accordance with Article 3 paragraph 3 of Law No. 104/1992, in cases where the child has contracted the SARS-CoV-2 infection, or for the duration of the child's quarantine, or in cases where the suspension of teaching or educational activities in attendance has been ordered, or if the child attends day care centers of an assisted living nature whose closure has been ordered.
Parental leave can be taken on a daily or hourly basis; an allowance equal to 50 percent of the salary itself, calculated in accordance with the provisions of the Consolidated Law on Maternity and Paternity Leave (Decree 151/2001), with the exception of paragraph 2 of Article 23 of the aforementioned Consolidated Law, is recognized in lieu of remuneration. The relevant periods are covered by notional contributions. In a circular dated December 21, 2021, Inps announces that it is possible to submit the relevant telematic applications. For the periods of parental leave taken by parents from the beginning of the 2021/2022 school year until the duration of the Decree's entry into force (October 21, 2021), they can be converted on application into the present leave (if they were requested because the child on sick leave for contracting the SARS-CoV-2 infection, or for quarantine of the child or suspension of educational activity in attendance, or for closure of day care centers with a welfare character.
An expenditure limit is set, and Inps provides monitoring, reporting findings from the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Additional provisions on wage subsidies
The law converting the Fiscal-Labor Decree confirmed the additional thirteen weeks of Ordinary Allowance and Wage Supplementation Fund in Derogation, for the period from October 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021, without any additional contribution. Applications can be submitted by private sector employers who suspend or reduce work activity due to events attributable to the Covid-19 epidemiological emergency, being able to cover workers in force as of October 21, 2021.
These treatments are granted up to an expenditure limit of 657.9 million euros for the year 2021, divided between the two aforementioned measures. Inps shall provide monitoring and if it emerges that the expenditure limit has been reached, even prospectively, it shall not consider further applications.
Employers referred to in Article 50-bis paragraph 2 of Decree Law No. 73 of May 25, 2021 (employers in the textile, garment and leather and similar industries, identified, according to the ATECO 2007 classification of economic activities, by codes 13, 14, and 15) , who suspend or reduce work activity due to events attributable to the Covid-19 epidemiological emergency may apply for ordinary wage supplementation treatment (CIGO) for 9 weeks from October 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021. These treatments are also granted only within the spending limit of 140.5 million euros for the year 2021. Inps provides monitoring and if it anticipates, even prospectively, that the expenditure limit will be exceeded, Inps will not consider further applications.